Method of making sheet metal hollow ware



Nov. 6, 1951 c, sc vu o 2,573,737

METHOD OF MAKING SHEET METAL HOLLOW WARE Original Filed Dec. 17, 1945 15Angdo- Scav U w, r L fl His WWW i atentecl Nov.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE ME HOD or SHEET E AL oney WARE pentinuatipnof application Serial No. 635,603, December 17, 1945. This applicationOctober 12, 1950, Serial No. 189,813

My invention relates to sheet metal hollow,- Ware articles, such asstainless steel hollow-ware articles and more particularly concerns,amethod of fabricating ornamented stainless steel and other sheet metalholloweware articles adapted for office, store, home, kitchen and forsundry generally allied applications; the present application for patentrepresenting a continuation .of my application Serial No. 635,603 .ofDecember 17, 1945, now abandoned.

Among the objects of my invention is the .fabrication of ornamental.sheet metal articles, .particularly stainless steel articles of .thegeneral type described, and to impart to preformed hollow-ware articlesan effective ornamentaltrimin a simple, ready, rapid, efficient andcertain manner, which involves minimum investment of plant and equipmentand labor, which can be effectively employed with metalsheets of widelydivergent thicknesses and configuration, and which avoids all necessityof 'appliededging or molding.

Other objects and advantagesin partwill -be obvious and inpartpointedout hereinafter, during the course of theifollowingmoredetaileddescription.

"My invention accordingly-.resideszin the features of construction andarrangement of parts, and in vtheseveral operational steps, and.therelation of each of thesamewith one or more. of.-the others, .thescope .iof vthe application [of all of which will be more fully setforthin the claims at the end of. this specification.

-;In the drawings, wherein I. disclose oneembodiment of the apparatuswhich -I nowprefer for carrying my new method .into operation, Figure .1comprises a perspective view, and Figure 2a front elevation of my newconstruction.

These views, wherein like. reference .numerals indicate like parts,effectively-disclose the mode of application of my invention.

As conducive to a more ready understanding of the exact nature of myinvention, it maybe noted at this point that more and more stainlesssteel, as well as Monelmetal, nickel, copper, brass, aluminum and likesheet metal, isused-lathe form of what ;may be termedornamentalhollow-ware. Particularly is this thecase of stainlesssteelwhen advantage is to be taken of one or more of the manyoutstanding, advantageous featuresof this alloysteel, including butwithout being limited to its oorrosion -resistance, its i h.- ea in lusti s s r a e hardnessrme high degr o I.PQH. ;W ip S ,wi ltake. and

2 ,Claims. (Cl. 29 148. 2)

the like. Among these articles, there maybe cited as illustrative, deskornamentsfand ornamental bric-a-brac for the ofiice and gravy boats,bowls, coasters, dishes, ladles, pitchers, pets,

. trays and the like for the home Thus, for the foregoing as well as formany other highly compelling reasons substantial effort has beendirected in recent years by many manufacturers in this highlycompetitive field towards productionof marketable stainless steelhollow-ware, as well as other sheet metal hellow-ware as having highsales appeal and substantial aesthetic value. While at first impres sionthis appears to he a comparatively simple ma er. pe c p ov thi n t the te case. It was ,not enough simply to produce a utilit ia ,pmdr bssrv n hde i d ct pna li u smen o com t w t g ne all similar articles of othermetals alreadyon the market, although they be semi-precious or evenprecious metals, substantial eye appeal was iound to be an essentialrequirement. The stain s ee a e qomea i tivel nex nsiye sheet metalproducts, over and above their superior qualities measured from" afunctional aedn eten ih i lo o a q dio ereeieu me al mi ie o ae e a iesili i i sh r rnem t t pn mat h imparted placing thoseproducts on, acomparable plane with'simila r products formed of the precious metals,as measured from an aesthetic standpoint.

,It was right .here, in imparting ornamentation tothejstainless steelarticles particularly, that uneirpecteddifiiculties were encountered Itwas considered for various reasons that ornarnentation, "such .,asornamental border "strips and ,the

had-to be applied tothe' metall .Welding was found entirelyunsatisfactory for. this general purpose Burning and" distortion" of t e.design on the strip 'mad'e'lthis "entirely", impractical. Hard solderhad to b'e resorted togemplo'yedfin uant H th .ams lsq e ha f0 3 groundoif and a 'ij'nal finish polishirnpartedfto tae cmatiaed article.Distortion in soldering frequently occurring, required furtherengraving, grinding and polishing. In the few instances whereatt'ractiveresults were achieved": 'substan tial labor costs were found tobinvolved iii assuring thatlfthe strip'was maintained in proper positionthroughout the processing, aswell as in the. manufacturing technique'itself. .In short, the stainless steel border ,was by no, meansavailable. or feasible from apractical standpoin-tl .The product, couldnotrbe applied, by soldering or 3 welding at a reasonable price. Thedifferential in price which contributed to the sales appeal of thesearticles as compared to those of precious metals diminished to the pointwhere it was impractical to produce ornamental stainless steel hardware.

This, in short, was the problem which con-' fronted me at the veryoutset-.how to impart ornamentation to the stainless steel product whichwould be pleasing and effective in appearance, and at the same timewould be sufficiently sure, certain and rapid as to involve lowoperational costs. An important object of my invention, therefore, maybe conceived as the elimination and avoidance in substantial measure ofthe difiiculties, deficiencies and drawbacks heretofore existing in theart, and at the same time to achieve the several objectives noted.

My invention may be envisaged as comprising the fabrication of stainlesssteel and various nickel, copper, brass, aluminum and like alloy sheetmetal articles such as hollow-ware for table use by deep-drawing orstamping sheet or strip metal and then imparting a raised or repoussedesign to roughly formed articles at desired regions thereon. For thispurpose I employ cooperating dies, preferably roller dies, oneconstituting a raised die, and the other a die having the correspondingdepressed pattern thereon. In accordance with my invention the roughlyformed vessel is passed between the dies, more especially the rim oredge is continuously fed between the dies, and the latter are appliedthereagainst at a pressure which is determined nicely relative to thethickness of the metal, so that the latter will be caused to flow justsufiiciently to take a sharp impression from the dies, without undueflow sufiicient to occasion distortion or regions of physical weaknessin the shaped article.

I find it entirely feasible to process all shapes of articles, oval,oblong, rectangular, circular, and the like, of three to thirty-sixinches or more in greatest dimension, having thickness of 20 to 14gauge. The precaution must be observed, however, that the edges of thepattern stamped or embossed in the metal must be at least onethirtysecond of an inch from the nearest edge, corner or rim. If thepattern approaches more closely, a ragged design is imparted, with runoff displayed, along with other indicia of inferiority. The dies, undersuch conditions, display a tendency to run off the surface of the metal.

Having more particular reference to the disclosure of Figures 1 and 2,sheet metal is deepdrawn into the rough form of a particular article,here typically illustrated as a vegetable dish Ill. The pre-formedarticle is provided with a flat, outturned marginal rim IDA. While thearticle may be formed of any suitable stainless steel, copper, nickel,aluminum, silver, brass, Monel or like alloy sheet metal, I find theconventional 18-8 chromium-nickel steel (18% chromium, 8% nickel, withthe remainder iron) to serve admirably for this purpose. since it iproduced in quantity, this grade i entirely satisfactory for suchmanufacture.

It is desired to provide a raised ornamental beading or design on theupper surface of rim WA. This design I provide through the use ofpaired, cooperating dies, substantially rigidly mounted in parallelaxes, that die with raised surface contours being placed lowermost andthat with depressed configuration being disposed uppermost, the metal tobe shaped and contoured in accordance with the pattern of the die beingplaced therebetween.

I find it satisfactory to provide rotary dies, with a continuous diepattern imparted to the outer periphery thereof, and to feed the articlel0 continuously and at uniform linear speed past or through the dies, byrotating the same about an axis which is at an angle to the axes ofrotation of the dies. This I find to be far more rapid, simple, and easyof manipulation than stamping with reciprocating dies. Pattern overlapis en countered only at the end of the process. Development of skill onthe part of the worker quickly suppresses and substantially eliminatesthis difficulty.

Accordingly, I provide an overlying circular rotary die element H faston drive shaft 12 through its hub 13. On face Ila the female die patternllb is provided. Cooperating with the underlying roller H is a second,circular and rotary die element l5 fast on its drive shaft Hi throughits hub 56 which drive shaft is substantially parallel to shaft l2. Onface 511 of die IS the male die pattern [51) is provided, which iscomplemental to and nicely fitted with respect to the female die patternMb. The linear rate of feed of rim lfia in rotating the work or articleID, the pressure between die elements H and I2, as well as the thicknessof the sheet metal stock of which article It! is formed, are all nicelycorrelated in empirical manner so that the metal is caused to flowsufficiently, and to take a good, sharp impression of required highdefinition.

While various thicknesses of sheet metal can be handled, I find my newmethod most suitable for thicknesses ranging between 14 and 20 gauges.Metal of a heavier gauge does not take the pattern satisfactorily andmetal of a lighter gauge is inclined to distortion.

My new technique makes it possible for the first time to provide apleasing, clear and undistorted ornamental beading, gadrooning or edgingon stainless steel and other inexpensive sheet metal hollow-ware, andthe like, and this in rapid, certain manner. As has been suggested,stainless steel hollow-ware, and generally similar articles thusornamented, have pleasing appearance and substantial sales appeal, theprice differential as compared with the cost of articles formed orprecious or semi-precious metals such as silver adding appreciably toits marketability and attractiveness to the discriminating purchaser.The rapid continuous technique, requiring labor of only moderate skill,ensures that production costs are maintained low, without sacrifice,however, in quality of product. Stainless steels of conventional andcommercial grades, and in commercial sizes, shapes and thicknesses, areadmirably suited for this final processing step. All necessity ofdifiicult finishing operations is eliminated in marked contrast to thenecessitudes when applied beading is employed.

For the first time, really satisfactory ornamented metal products aremade possible at reasonable price. Heretofore, competing products fromthe standpoint of initial cost such as steel plated with silver or othersimilar surfacing metals are found to rust and discolor in use.Corrosion is rapid, especially in moist as well as salty atmospheres.Articles such as table ware for marine and beach duty soon corrode.Articles of such nature as to be subjected to frequent handling as inthe hotel and restaurant trade, likewise soon discolor with a scratchingor wearing away of the plated surface. All of these conditions of useare withstood by the ornamental articles of my invention.

It is apparent from the foregoing that once the broad aspects of myinvention are disclosed, many embodiments thereof and many modes ofapplication, all falling within the scope thereof, will readily occur tothose skilled in the art. Moreover, many modifications of the embodimentand mode of execution herein disclosed will likewise suggest themselves.Accordingly, I intend to be limited only by the scope of the followingclaims, and I make the foregoing disclosure solely by way ofillustration.

I claim:

1. In the fabrication of ornamented stainless steel hollow-ware, the artwhich comprises, shaping stainless steel sheet of 20-14 gauge to desiredhollow-ware configuration with a free out-turned circumferential rim,and then continuously feeding said free out-turned rim by rotating saidWare between male and female rotary dies operating in axes at an angleto the axis of rotation of said ware and cooperating at sufficientpressure and at suificient distance from the-edge of the rim to impartornamentation thereto.

2. In the fabrication of ornamented sheet metal hollow-ware, the artwhich comprises, shaping sheet metal of 20-14 gauge to desiredhollow-ware configuration with a free out-turned rim, and thencontinuously feeding said free out-turned rim by rotating said. warebetween a pair of power driven roller dies operating in axes at an angleto the axis of the rotation of said ware and cooperating at sufiicientpressure and at a distance up to about inch from the edge of the rim toimpart ornamentation to the rim.

ANGELO C. SCAVULLO.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file ofthis patent:

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